Project 10073 Record Card and Air Intelligence Information Report — Ithaca, New York, 17 December 1952

This document collection details a sighting of an unidentified aerial phenomenon reported on December 17, 1952, at the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The primary report, documented on a Project 10073 record card and an Air Intelligence Information Report (AF Form 112), describes a light resembling a jet exhaust, which was greenish-blue in color with an orange-red trail. The witness, a 1st Lieutenant, observed the object moving in a westerly direction at a very high speed, traversing 30 degrees of arc in approximately two seconds. The object was noted to be traveling in a horizontal plane and disappeared behind the leading edge of high cirrus clouds, which were estimated to be at an altitude of over 20,000 feet. No aircraft structure was visible to the observer. Based on the altitude and the arc traversed, the speed was estimated to be in excess of 700 miles per hour. The local civil defense authority was notified of the event. The documentation includes a cover letter dated February 9, 1953, from the 3650th Military Training Wing at Sampson Air Force Base to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC). This letter notes that three unrelated letters of varying dates were received by the headquarters following national media publicity. The author, Major H. O. Danon, stated that none of the observations provided significant accuracy or were received in time for urgent reporting. The files were forwarded to ATIC in compliance with Air Force Letter 200-5.